Friskaburger Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 Hey guys, I have read a few things over at RC about using a UPS battery backup on tanks and most of them say it isn't worth it since it drains them rather quickly. My problem is that in my apartment, whenever my window A/C or my roommate's A/C or the refrigerator kicks on, the lights dim a decent amount in the apartment, and I believe this is causing my halide to shut off. I think I could get away with using a Furman power conditioner, but wanted to know if anyone had any good suggestions. I figured that I could get away with a smaller UPS since i only want to run a 75 watt heater, my 70 watt sunpod, and a MJ900. I'm not sure how they calculate the wattage drainage on a UPS... can anyone help me on this? Link to comment
Jackopus Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 Yeah, we had a big debate about this last week... It came down to at least imho, that a 800 wat UPS from home office crack addict PC joints will give you some hour or two protection. 49.99 to 99.00 if you want more you can use a 1200 watt usually about 149 bucks I use that later... Some suggested a Generator for long outages, others went off the deep end... Link to comment
Friskaburger Posted June 3, 2007 Author Share Posted June 3, 2007 Awesome, thanks for a number of watts! I wanted something to go by. I am not looking for a super awesome backup since all I'm concerned about is these little sags of power we get and also to give me 10 minutes to go downstairs and reset the box when we trip it. Our apartment in Boston is old and I suspect the wiring and everything is horrendous. For example, if you run the microwave without first unplugging the refrigerator, you will trip the fuses and have to go reset them. =( Link to comment
LoBo Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 well, for me, when my power goes out, the only important thing is temp and circulation. For the heat, i fill water bottles with hot water and let them float and the circulation i use battery operated pumps. you can live without lights for like an hour. UPS will last depending on what you plug in, or using it for etc, if your using it for MH.. man you better get a big azz one. Link to comment
eklikewhoa Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 I went out and got a good power invertor and I found out today that it works well. I just hooked it up to the car and ran an extension to the powerstrip on my NC12g and it ran fine. I got a 1800w invertor peak but it runs 1000w normal. Link to comment
masterbuilder Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 When I think of power backup...I think of tank survival. No need for lights, corals will do just fine without lights for days or longer. Heat...anything above 72 will keep stuff alive for days also...they may not be happy , but will pull thru without any lasting effects. The only thing you need is water flow, my MJ900 pulls about 9 watts so should last quite a long time with a battery backup. Link to comment
Friskaburger Posted June 3, 2007 Author Share Posted June 3, 2007 Well maybe i didn't specify correctly in my original question, but my main concern is these power sags that are I think causing my halide to just flicker out and not start back up. This is my main concern, not what to do in a power failure. I figured that the UPS backup would be just an added bonus that iw as looking into. I'm curious if any of you have experienced the problem I'm talking about with their halides. I have a 70watt sunpod. Link to comment
soundman Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 Our apartment in Boston is old and I suspect the wiring and everything is horrendous. For example, if you run the microwave without first unplugging the refrigerator, you will trip the fuses and have to go reset them. =( Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. Link to comment
Friskaburger Posted June 3, 2007 Author Share Posted June 3, 2007 Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. could you be more specific? Link to comment
masterbuilder Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 Well maybe i didn't specify correctly in my original question, but my main concern is these power sags that are I think causing my halide to just flicker out and not start back up. This is my main concern, not what to do in a power failure. I figured that the UPS backup would be just an added bonus that iw as looking into. I'm curious if any of you have experienced the problem I'm talking about with their halides. I have a 70watt sunpod. I got it now..... over on apc.com they have a calculator to figure out what size you need, I know from experience that you cant over load the backups or you will make it worse. Sounds like your on the right track. Link to comment
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